ES2362517B1 - CONVENTIONAL IVR CONTROL METHOD FOR USE IN SEMI-DUPLEX COMMUNICATION. - Google Patents

Abstract

Conventional IVR control method for use in semi-duplex communication between a user terminal that uses semi-duplex communication and an IVR, comprising: # - receiving (101, 201) a gateway (3) a request to establish communication between a specific terminal (4) and an IVR (6); # - establish an S1 session (103, 203) between the terminal (4) and the gateway (3); # - establish an S2 session (104, 204) between the gateway (3) and the IVR (4); # - set the terminal (4) to control the session S1; # - send (112, 212) the gateway (3) to the IVR (6) a signal so that the IVR send audio information to the terminal (4), through the gateway (3); # - send (117, 217) the IVR (6) to the gateway (3) a signal indicating that the IVR (6) already You have finished sending the audio information; # - release (118, 218) the gateway (3) the floor in session S1.

Description

Conventional IVR control method for use in semi-duplex communication.

Field of the Invention

The present invention falls within the field of interactive vocal systems and business voice information services.

Background of the invention

Currently, many of the services that companies offer over the phone are provided using very specialized computer systems called “interactive voice systems” (better known by its acronym in English IVR, Interactive Voice Response). It is the IVR systems that dialogue with the user in the vast majority of cases, analyzing their responses in natural language, collecting keystrokes, etc. Human partners only intervene in second place and on certain occasions.

IVR systems are considered a mature and well developed technology, its architecture can be broken down in an abstract way into 4 components:

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ASR (“Automatic speech recognition”) decodes the user's vocal information and translates it into a format understandable by the control system (usually text or a series of keywords). In the simplest systems the ASR is not present, the user asks his questions by pressing keys, emitting signals (known as "DTMF" from its acronym in English "Dual-tone multi-frequency") consisting of tones of known frequency, and which are received and translated much more simply than human vocal discourse.

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TTS ("Text to speech") performs the reverse task: they generate synthetic voice, the so-called "locutions", which can be pre-recorded or generated dynamically by reading texts to the user.

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Control logic: analyzes the result of the ASR based on rules (“grammar”), takes the corresponding actions (for example, consulting with a database the answer to the question asked by the user), and in most of The cases invokes the TTS module to communicate back with the user.

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Communication interfaces that control the calls received and the connections with the systems in which the information or business intelligence necessary to carry out the service provided resides.

The vast majority of services provided through IVR consist of a succession of questions and answers through which progress is made in the logic of the service. This logic is defined using specialized programming languages, which may be proprietary, or, increasingly frequently, standardized, such as VoiceXML, CCXML, XHTML, or combinations of all of them.

A common feature of conventional IVRs is their call orientation, that is, the provision of the service (the dialogue of questions and answers) is carried out in the course of a telephone call. After the call has been closed, a dialogue with an IVR cannot be resumed at the point where it was left: each new call implies a new execution of the service.

This feature does not imply a limitation in the scenarios in which up to now IVR systems have been used; However, it is a barrier to use in cases of use in which continuous communication with the user is not needed or cannot be maintained. These use cases have economic benefits and service provision in some scenarios.

For example, the execution of the typical IVR service based on questions and answers makes it adapt perfectly to a semi-duplex channel, in which it can be transmitted in both directions, but not simultaneously. This can lead to significant cost savings (since the resources of the communication subsystem of the IVR could be reused with much greater efficiency); allows to extend the services to those users who use semi-duplex communication, such as messaging systems or mobile "Push to talk"; It offers advantages for the user in some scenarios (speed of use, cost, ease, familiarity, etc.), etc.

A fundamental characteristic of semi-duplex systems is the existence, implicitly or explicitly, of an arbitration mechanism for the control of the transmission medium: in fact, since only one of the parties can communicate at a time, it is necessary that there be a mechanism by which one of the interlocutors who wishes to speak takes control of the environment. By extension of the terminology used in private communications networks, these mechanisms are known as "floor" control mechanisms (direct translation of the "fl oor"). To use a conventional IVR with semi-duplex channels, it is therefore necessary to cover the need to provide a suitable floor control mechanism, so that the communication is carried out satisfactorily.

This invention describes a method that allows the use of a conventional IVR without modifications through a semi-duplex communication channel, and in a transparent manner to the operator providing the communication service (without the need to add systems or modify the configuration of your network) . The method can be used in those services in which the dialogue between user and IVR is based on the question-answer model; in the services in which the IVR communicates with the user autonomously (for example, sending communications or voice alerts); etc.

The method employs mechanisms present in conventional IVRs (DTMF tones, service logic programming facilities) and a specific system to allow IVR services to be used without modifying semi-duplex terminals, without requiring specific actions from users and allowing them to take advantage of Advantages of semi-duplex systems.

Methods that allow communication between conventional full-duplex terminals and semi-duplex terminals, mainly mobile "Push to Talk" have been described. These methods are not applicable to the scenarios covered by the present invention because:

-

underlying them is the assumption that communication takes place between human beings, which can self-regulate the flow of communication (they are not therefore applicable to a communication in which one of the parties is a computer system, with a fl exibility strictly limited to what is programmed in a pattern fl ow of questions-answers)

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special actions are required by the full-duplex terminal (unfeasible if an unmodified IVR is intended to be used)

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They require the installation of additional components in the service operator's network (unfeasible if the method is intended to operate transparently to the operator providing the communication service).

For example, some of the published methods employ voice and silence detection systems to activate the native floor control mechanism: when user A in the full-duplex terminal begins to speak, a system detects the voice and begins to execute the steps to ask for control of the floor. If the other part B has control of the floor and does not yield it, the audio of A will be lost. If user A is a person, he will detect the conflict (collision) and act accordingly, however for a conventional IVR these collisions would result in the loss of service synchronization, since he would answer the answer. Conversely, the floor is released when the vocal message ends by detecting silence for a while, which implies delay and loss of interactivity (eliminating one of the advantages of semi-duplex systems for these services) and problems in terms of experience of the user (user B analyzes the IVR answer, decides that it has finished and tries to take the floor repeatedly, before the silence detector acts). US2007 / 0117581-A1 describes a method of this type.

Patent document WO / 2006/105275 ("Push To Talk Over Cellular (Half-Duplex) To Full-Duplex Voice Conferencing") describes a similar but more complex method by requiring the use of voice storage systems.

Description of the invention

The invention relates to a conventional IVR control method for use in semi-duplex communication between a user terminal employing semi-duplex communication and an IVR according to claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the method are defined in the claims. Dependents

The method comprises:

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receive a gateway a request to establish communication between a specific user terminal and an IVR;

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establish an S1 session between the user terminal and the gateway;

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establish an S2 session between the gateway and the IVR;

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set the user terminal the floor control of session S1;

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sending the gateway to the IVR an indicator signal so that the IVR sends determined audio information to the terminal through the gateway said indicator signal consisting of at least one DTMF tone;

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send the IVR through the S2 session the determined audio information to the gateway;

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send the gateway said audio information to the terminal through the S1 session; -send the IVR to the gateway a signal indicating that the IVR has already finished sending the audio information;

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release the floor walkway in session S1;

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close, once the communication between the user terminal and the IVR has ended, sessions S1 and S2.

The request to establish communication between a specific user terminal and an IVR is preferably sent by the user terminal to the gateway through a semi-duplex communication service server. The method may in this case further comprise:

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send the user terminal to the gateway through the S1 session an audio message in which certain information is requested from the IVR;

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send the gateway to the IVR said audio message through the S2 session;

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release the user terminal the floor in session S1, the gateway receiving said floor release and establishing control of the floor.

The method may further comprise consulting the IVR for an external database to prepare the response to the user terminal query.

In another preferred embodiment, the request to establish communication between a particular user terminal and an IVR is sent by the IVR to the gateway.

The DTMF tones used for signaling between the gateway and the IVR may be multi-digit tones and preferably correspond to hexadecimal digits (non-numeric characters).

Brief description of the drawings

A series of drawings that help to better understand the invention and that expressly relate to an embodiment of said invention which is presented as a non-limiting example thereof is described very briefly below.

Figure 1 shows a particular embodiment of the invention applied to PoC systems.

Figure 2 shows another particular embodiment of the invention, in the case of services initiated by the service provider through the IVR.

Description of a preferred embodiment of the invention

An embodiment of the method is described in Figure 1 when the semi-duplex system is a PoC ("Push to Talk Over Cellular") system, the user terminal is a PoC mobile phone and communication with the IVR is performed using SIP signaling and transmission of vocal information on IP protocol.

The method object of the present invention consists in the use of a gateway or gateway 3 between the conventional full duplex network2 and the semi-duplex system 1; and in the use of DTMF tones in the IVR to signal the end of a speech.

The gateway 3 appears to the semi-duplex network 1 as one more terminal, it is not distinguished in any special way, which avoids any dependence on the part of the operator that provides the service. Looking at the full-duplex network 2, the gateway 3 behaves like a normal terminal in terms of communications.

The sequence of operation of the method in the case of services requested by the user is as follows:

one.

The user terminal 4 of a semi-duplex communication service wishes to access a voice service through it, for this it dials or selects the number or identifier of the service, Users Service IVR, making 101 the call through the server of the service of semi-duplex communication 5, in this case PoC server. Previously, gateway 3 has registered 100 on the semi-duplex communication service server 5 as user Users IVR service. This number or user service identifier IVR corresponds to the user representing the gateway 3. For example in a PoC terminal, the user would select the contact (“buddy”) from his list that puts him in communication with the service.

2.

The semi-duplex communication service server 5 processes the request from user terminal 4 in the usual manner. When gateway 3 appears as an additional semi-duplex user, a completely normal S1 session will be created between user terminal 4 and gateway 3.

3.

Gateway 3, based on rules created by the service provider (eg the identifier of the originating user, time of day, traffic, etc.), selects an IVR 6 to perform the requested service (for example, consult the systems of business intelligence and databases 7 where the required information is stored), starts an S2 session with it and sends the user's voice. To minimize communication delays, the creation of the S2 session can begin while the creation of the S1 session progresses, without waiting for the S1 session to be fully established. The gateway 3 con fi rms 105 to the semi-duplex communication service server 5 the acceptance of the call.

Four.

The user terminal 4 takes the floor of the session S1 (depending on the semi-duplex system this step may not be necessary, since the control of the floor may be inherent in the creation of the session), sends 106 your question in the session S1 and releases floor 108. Gateway 3 receives 109 floor release through the semi-duplex communication service server 5.

5.

Gateway 3 receives the voice through the S1 session, optionally transforms it according to the requirements of the full-duplex channel (for example, change of coding) and sends it 107 through the S2 session. To avoid communication delays, the user's voice is sent immediately, without waiting for the release of the floor.

6.

When it receives 109 the floor release signal, the gateway 3 executes the procedure to take control of the floor in session S1, making a floor request 111, and when it receives a floor control confirmation sends 112 DTMF tones "BEGIN_SPEECH" to IVR 6.

7.

The IVR 6 receives 107 the user's voice through the S2 session and analyzes it through the ASR voice recognition module. If the analysis is successful, it signals 110 to the gateway 3 a DTMF "MATCH" tones and the execution of the service progresses, making the consultations 113 to the business intelligence systems and databases 7, and elaborates the appropriate response. If the user's voice recognition is unsuccessful (for example, the user has remained silent or has asked an unintelligible question for the system), the IVR 6 signals DTMF tones “NO_MATCH” to the gateway 3 and the execution the service is derived to inform the user of that situation, for example, a phrase of the type "I have not understood you, please repeat" can be reproduced.

8.

When the answer (either the actual answer to the user's question or a statement reporting an error condition) is ready, if IVR 6 has received 112 the DTMF signal "BEGIN_SPEECH" (step 6), 114 the reply is sent , through its TTS system (text to speech conversion), to gateway 3 through the S2 session. If the IVR 6 has not received the DTMF signal, it means that the user has not yet released the floor, the response is retained or discarded, depending on the configuration of the service.

9.

Gateway 3 receives 114 audio from IVR 6, optionally transforms it according to the requirements of the semi-duplex channel, and sends it 115 to user terminal 4 through session S1, whereby audio from IVR 6 is sent immediately to user terminal 4.

10.

As part of the service execution logic, IVR 6 sends 117 DTMF tones “END_SPEECH”, programmed previously, at the end of the answer. The S2 session is still standing, unless the logic of the service requires it (it would be the case, for example, of a service answering a single question).

eleven.

Gateway 3 recognizes the DTMF tones "END_SPEECH" that signal the end of the speech and effects the release 118 of the floor control in session S1, said release 119 communicating the server of the semi-duplex communication service 5 to the user terminal 4 The tone recognition can be done by analyzing the transmission itself, but in most cases the IVR 6 will be able to send the DTMF signals using a special coding (as described in RFC 2833, “Request For Comments ”), or signaling (for example, in the case of SIP, as described in RFC 2976), much simpler methods that allow greater scalability and reliability.

12.

Steps 4-11 are repeated as many times as the service logic requires.

13.

At the end of the service, either by the user (closing session S1) or by IVR 6 (closing session S2), the gateway executes the closures of session S2 or S1, respectively.

The sequence of operation of the method in the case of services initiated by the service provider through IVR 6 (for example, notice of an appointment in the personal agenda, transaction message on a credit card) is shown in Figure 2 below:

1. The service provider, IVR 6, issues 201 a request to send certain information to a user, sending as parameters the number or identifier of the destination, the type of service, the data necessary to carry it out, etc. This request arrives (not relevant to this description) to the gateway 3 suitable for contacting the semi-duplex network 1 in which the destination user resides.

2.

The gateway 3 recognizes the number or identifier, creates session S1 203 towards the corresponding user and initiates the procedures to take the floor in said session, carrying out if a floor request 211 is necessary (in some semi-duplex systems, this second step it is optional, since the control of the floor is inherent to the creation of the session).

3.

In parallel to step 2, gateway 3 analyzes the service parameters and creates 204 an S2 session towards IVR 6, invoking in it the appropriate logic to use the necessary resources (mainly the TTS module).

Four.

As part of the service execution logic associated with the S2 session, IVR 6 is waiting to receive a DTMF “BEGIN_SPEECH” signal.

5.

Once the gateway 3 has taken the floor in session S1, sign 212 with a DTMF “BEGIN_SPEECH” towards IVR 6.

6.

IVR 6 receives the DTMF "BEGIN_SPEECH", and sends 114 the result of the logic invoked to gateway 3 through session S2.

7.

Follow steps 9-11 of the previous description: gateway 3 receives 214 audio from IVR 6 and sends 215 to user terminal 4; IVR 6 sends 217 DTMF tones "END_SPEECH" at the end of the audio information, the gateway 3 releases 218 of the floor control in session S1, said release 219 communicating the semi-duplex communication service server 5 to the user terminal 4.

8.

At the end of the service, either by the user (closing session S1) or by IVR 6 (closing session S2), the gateway executes the closures of session S2 or S1, respectively.

In order to protect the system from error conditions in the half-duplex communication system or in the communications network that connects to the IVR system, the following recovery mechanisms are also provided:

one.

At any time during the execution of the service described in the previous sections, the semi-duplex communication service control system may decide to proactively revoke the control of the floor to the gateway 3 (for example, it may occur as a reaction to congestion, conditions of congestion). error in the control system, etc.).

2.

Gateway 3 receives the revoked floor signaling and signals DTMF tones "VOX_LOST_FLOOR" to the IVR 6 in session S2.

3.

The IVR receives these tones. The execution of the service recognizes the tones as an error condition and brings the service to the desired treatment state, usually it would be taken to the initial state and an attempt would be made to emit a phrase "An unexpected error has occurred" or similar.

In a similar way, it can be detected and signaled that when the control system of the semi-duplex communication service decides to revoke the control of the floor to the end user and the semi-duplex communication service allows the gateway 3 to be informed of this fact, You can signal with a DTMF tone “CLI_LOST_FLOOR” to the IVR within the S2 session. The con fi guration of the IVR service will react to these tones in a manner that is defined as appropriate for the service in question.

It is important to note that, as described above, it is not necessary to make any modifications to conventional IVR's that include support for DTMF tones (the vast majority of those present in the market today). In fact, the detection of the tones and the reaction to them is carried out using the same facilities with which the usual services are defined, in fact, a large part of these services are already supported by DTMF tones (for example, the menus vowels of the type "press 1 for ..., press 2 for ...".

To avoid confusion between the DTMF tones that the user could send and the tones used for signaling, there are two solutions:

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Use multi-digit tones. That is, each DTMF signal "BEGIN_SPEECH", "END_SPEECH", etc.) would correspond to a sequence of several DTMF tones, for example: 12 *, * 3 #.

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use tones that cannot be generated by common keyboards, for example: C, D, E.

Claims (7)

1. Conventional IVR control method for use in semi-duplex communication between a user terminal that uses semi-duplex communication and an IVR, characterized in that it comprises: - receiving (101, 201) a gateway (3) a request for establish communication between a specific user terminal (4) and an IVR (6); - establish an S1 session (103, 203) between the user terminal (4) and the gateway (3); - establish an S2 session (104, 204) between the gateway (3) and the IVR (4); -establish the user terminal (4) the floor control of session S1;

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sending (112, 212) the gateway (3) to the IVR (6) an indicating signal for the IVR to send determined audio information to the terminal (4) through the gateway (3), said indicating signal consisting of at least a DTMF tone;

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send (114, 214) the IVR (6) through the S2 session the audio information determined to the gateway (3);

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send (115, 215) the gateway (3) said audio information to the terminal (4) through session S1;

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send (117, 217) the IVR (6) to the gateway (3) a signal indicating that the IVR (6) has already finished sending the

audio information; -liberate (118, 218) the gateway (3) the floor in session S1; -close, once the communication between the user terminal (4) and the IVR (6), sessions S1 and S2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the request to establish communication between a determined user terminal (4) and an IVR (6) is sent (101) by the user terminal (4) to the gateway (3) to through a semi-duplex communication service server (5), and because the method additionally comprises:

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send (106) the user terminal (4) to the gateway (3) through the S1 session an audio message in which certain information is requested from the IVR (6);

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send (107) the gateway (3) to the IVR (6) said audio message through the S2 session;

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release the user terminal (4) the floor in session S1, receiving (109) the gateway (3) said floor release and establishing control of the floor.

3.

Method according to claim 2, characterized in that it further comprises consulting (113) the IVR (6) an external database (7) to prepare the response to the query of the user terminal (4).

Four.

Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the request to establish communication between a specific user terminal (4) and an IVR (6) is sent (201) by the IVR (6) to the gateway (3).

5.

Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the DTMF tones used for signaling between the gateway (3) and the IVR (6) are multi-digit tones.

6.

Method according to any of claims 1-5, characterized in that the DTMF tones used for signaling between the gateway (3) and the IVR (6) correspond to hexadecimal digits.

SPANISH OFFICE OF THE PATENTS AND BRAND Application no .: 200900356 SPAIN Date of submission of the application: 09.02.2009 Priority Date: REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE 51 Int. Cl.: See Additional Sheet RELEVANT DOCUMENTS

Category

Documents cited Claims Affected

Y

US 2007117581 A1 (CHIU et al.) 24.05.2007, the whole document. 1-6

Y

US 7313103 B2 (COX et al.) 25.12.2007, the entire document. 1-6

TO

US 2006046697 A1 (KOREN et al.) 02.03.2006, the whole document. 1-6

Category of the documents cited X: of particular relevance Y: of particular relevance combined with other / s of the same category A: reflects the state of the art O: refers to unwritten disclosure P: published between the priority date and the date of priority submission of the application E: previous document, but published after the date of submission of the application

This report has been prepared • for all claims • for claims no:

Date of completion of the report 06.15.2011

Examiner J. Maldonado Bottle Page 1/4

REPORT OF THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE Application number: 200900356 CLASSIFICATION OBJECT OF THE APPLICATION H04W84 / 22 (2009.01) H04W76 / 00 (2009.01) H04W4 / 10 (2009.01) Minimum documentation sought (classification system followed by classification symbols) H04W Electronic databases consulted during the search (name of the database and, if possible, terms of search used) INVENES, EPODOC, WPI, NPL, XPESP, XPAIP, XPI3E, INSPEC. State of the Art Report Page 2/4  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 200900356 Date of Completion of Written Opinion: 06.15.2011 Statement

Novelty (Art. 6.1 LP 11/1986)

Claims Claims 1-6 IF NOT

Inventive activity (Art. 8.1 LP11 / 1986)

Claims Claims 1-6 IF NOT

The application is considered to comply with the industrial application requirement. This requirement was evaluated during the formal and technical examination phase of the application (Article 31.2 Law 11/1986).  Opinion Base.- This opinion has been made on the basis of the patent application as published. State of the Art Report Page 3/4  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 200900356 1. Documents considered.- The documents belonging to the state of the art taken into consideration for the realization of this opinion are listed below.

Document

Publication or Identification Number publication date

D01

US 2007117581 A1 (CHIU et al.) 05/24/2007

D02

US 7313103 B2 (COX et al.) 25.12.2007

D03

US 2006046697 A1 (KOREN et al.) 02.03.2006

2. Statement motivated according to articles 29.6 and 29.7 of the Regulations for the execution of Law 11/1986, of March 20, on Patents on novelty and inventive activity; quotes and explanations in support of this statement Document D01 presents a system and method that allows the PTT semi-duplex terminal to communicate with an IRV full-duplex terminal. The PTT terminal sends a request to a gateway to establish communication with the IVR terminal, establishing sessions between the PTT terminal and the gateway and between it and the IVR terminal. The IVR terminal transmits a voice signal that is stored by the gateway until the PTT terminal releases the floor when the gateway picks it up by initiating the transmission of the IVR voice signal and releasing the floor by detecting silence on the part of the IVR terminal. The PTT terminal picks up the floor and transmits a voice signal that is immediately sent to the IVR terminal whose response the gateway stores until the PTT terminal releases the floor, continuing the process. Document D02 presents a system that through a gateway communicates terminals in a full-duplex system with terminals in a semi-duplex system. The session starts in a full-duplex terminal upon request to the gateway, which establishes two sessions with the full-duplex and semi-duplex systems. The full-duplex user terminates and returns control of the voice channel by sending a specific DTMF signal to the gateway. Unlike document D01, the fulldupplex terminals emulate a semi-duplex terminal, signaling the completion of each communication they make. It is considered that one skilled in the art would attempt to combine the main parts of documents D01 and D02 of the nearest state of the art to obtain the characteristics of the claims from 1 to 6 and have a reasonable expectation of success. The contents of claims 3, 5, and 6 being mere obvious particular executions for an expert in the field. Therefore the claims from the 1st to the 6th lack inventive activity. State of the Art Report Page 4/4